“Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Let Israel now say, “His mercy endures forever.” Let the house of Aaron now say, “His mercy endures forever.” Let those who fear the Lord now say, “His mercy endures forever.” I called on the Lord in distress; The Lord answered me and set me in a […]
Not Who You Are but Whose You Are
When folks come for counsel and it appears that they have a goofy view of who they are, I often give them homework that consists of a couple of pages with hundreds of scripture references that talk about who God says they are. They/we need to get our identity about who we are by reading […]
Whistling A Happy Tune
Hi Wilhemina, About your questions: One thing that might be helpful is for you to find some chapters and verses for what you’re being critical about. For example, you said you want to do everything for Jesus, but nothing you do is “good enough.” So, what does “good enough” mean? Does it mean that when […]
Helping Older Women
Dear Pastor Mike, My wife is attending a Bible study at a nearby church with a number of older women. Each week she comes home frustrated with much of the teaching she is hearing there and wants to know how to help the ladies with their understanding of the Bible and their relationships with God. […]
Live Now
This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it. (Ps 118:24) When I first became a Christian in the Navy, this verse made up one of my favorite songs. It had parts. The guys sang, “this is the day.” And the women followed with, “this is the day.” And so […]
Normal
“Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that’” (Jas 4:15). Shortly after my wife died, someone came up to me and said, “Welcome to the new normal.” I didn’t have any idea what he was talking about. Since then, I think I’ve figured it out. I […]
Change is Hard Part 2
Yesterday I posted a list of things that can make change difficult. You can read it here. Today, I have another list of things that often make change hard. Sometimes the fear of failing can make change difficult. We may have tried that before and things went well for a few weeks, but then the wheels […]
Change is Hard Part 1
I work with a lot of people who need to make some changes in the way they think about God and their subsequent behavior. Some people take to change like ducks to water. But other people really have a hard time changing. I’d like to take a few moments to talk about why I think […]
Orientation Vs. Heart
I think it’s rather easy to agree that a heterosexual man who commits adultery with a woman has sinned — they both have. We get that. A homosexual man, acting on that impulse with another man, has sinned — they both have. Moving back one step, to the level of desire, a heterosexual man desiring […]